Santa, Christmas, and Snow!

A week or so before Christmas, Odin got to meet Santa at the NC Art Museum. He wasn't too sure what to think of him...
On Christmas Eve, we had Granpa Dave and Grandma Alla along with Uncle Jeff for dinner. Odin had a gift for Uncle Jeff's dog, Mynx, that he was very excited to give her and help her unwrap!
On Christmas morning Odin unwrapped a chainsaw from Grandma Cathy and WOW, it is by far his favorite! He was cutting non-stop. Can you tell he is a forester's son??
Later Christmas day we went to a local park to let Odin run around, but he mostly cut all the bushes with his chainsaw.
One of his other favorites is a scooter. You can't see it in the picture, but there are 2 wheels in the back for stability.Late on Christmas day it started snowing. By this morning we had about 8 inches of snow!

Trying to make a snowman...

Tree Decorating

We had fun decorating the tree! Odin loves to turn on the Christmas tree lights.

Solar and Xmas Tree

We recently had 10 Solar Panels installed on our south-facing roof. Here's a pic of me on the roof with the supporting rails and the micro-inverters that change the DC power from the sun to the AC power we use in our house.
The 10 panels installed!! The system is a 2.2 KWh system, we sell the electricity right back to the power company. Should have complete pay-back of the system in 6.5 years (and we still own the system). The panels are under warranty for 25 years.

We went to the farmers market today and picked out a nice Fraser fir Christmas Tree! Odin was a big help sweeping up all the needles that dropped in the garage. More pics to come after we get it in the house.

Odin and Great Grandma Leah

For Thanksgiving we were fortunate to have a special visit by Great Grandma Leah! Great Grandma Leah gave Odin lots of special attention and they got along fabulously.

She read stores to him, gave him kisses, and played peak-a-boo with a napkin at dinner!

Bubbe joined us for T-Day as well and helped to keep Odin entertained while Momma cooked T-day dinner. Bubbe is really good at arts and crafts. Odin and Bubble cut, pasted and colored pictures. The day after Thanksgiving we took Odin to Monkey Joe's for some hardcore fun! Odin loves climbing, jumping and SLIDING!!!!!

Especially with Daddie!

And just a very cute picture of Odin playing with his trains...

Richmond Visit

This past weekend Momma and Odin spent some time with Bubbe in Richmond while Daddie went hunting in Vermont with Uncle Jeff and Uncle Brandon.

Odin was terribly sad he didn't get to go hunting with the men, but quickly reassessed the situation when he and Bubbe started playing piano! Bubbe taught Odin about the black and white keys and to only use his fingers on the piano (no elbows, feet or other objects!;-) After playing piano Momma pulled out a special surprise for Odin; a pair of big boy scissors! Odin loves cutting and boy did he love the scissors!

Every night Daddie spoke with Odin on the phone. When the phone would ring Odin would run to it, pick it up, and say, "Hello Daddie!" It was difficult for Momma to get a chance to talk with Daddie because Odin wouldn't give up the phone! In addition to playing piano, cutting with scissors and talking on the phone Odin learned some Jewish traditions. He went to an Orthodox Bluegrass music jam (and sat still for an entire hour while starring intently at the guitar players)...every time they stopped playing he would yell, "More!" Odin also went to Saturday morning services and helped the Rabbi by bringing Thomas Trains onto the Bima where the Rabbi was conducting services. The Rabbi gently gave them back to Odin and Momma encouraged him back down to the pews.

All the play wore Odin out! He passed out on Bubbe for a long nap!

Visit to NY & NJ

We took a trip up north at the end of October for Odin's Great-Grandma Kaufman's 80th birthday party. While there he and his cousin Aaron went on a hiking adventure through the bushes. We also stopped in NJ to visit with family. Odin got to meet Grandma Cathy's ceramic pig "Samantha". He had lots of fun going for a ride! At a social gathering at grandma Cathy's we got to see lots of family and dad's long-time friends Jon and Al and thier families. There was a lot of playing going on that night! We were also able to stop by and see grandpa Jim in southern NJ. Odin got to help pull the rope to hang up a new American flag on the flagpole.

Halloween at Daddie's work

Last week it was Halloween for kids at Daddie's work. Odin dressed up like a horse and had a lot of fun running around with his horse!
We decorated some cookies, which Odin was very good at since he gets lots of practice squeezing the ketchup bottle at home (sometime too much practice!).

He charmed everyone at Daddie's work with his big smile!

Fish Tank

Bubbe (Grandma Fern) came to visit for a couple of days. During the visit they set up a fish tank. Bubbe was amazingly patient and an excellent teacher in how to set up fish tanks! She helped Odin wash the rocks...
carry the rocks to the fish tank (located in the sunroom)...

pour them in the fish tank...

and then arrange the plants perfectly. Odin also helped fill the tank with water. It was MANY trips back and forth from the kitchen to the tank using the quart-sized yogurt container to carry water (10 gallon tank)! HA, we helped him.

Then once the tank was perfect we purchased some fish! On the way home from the pet store one of the bags broke, but a quick pull-over and rescue of the loose fish occurred and fortunately all survived and are happily swimming in their new home!

Odin and Jackson

Odin has a new playmate...Jackson . They live next to us and the boys have a blast playing together. Jackson is exactly 1 year older than Odin and is rather patient with him!

Yesterday Dad pushed them on the swing...they really enjoyed being able to swing together (instead of having to take turns...who likes to take turns anyway1?!?!).


One, two, three...BLAST-OFF!
WHEEEEEE!

Odin and Maya

Today was a special day for Odin...we got to watch one of his favorite gals, Maya while the dad's worked on the land in Norlina (prepping for hunting season). We started the morning by making breakfast (eggies!).

Maya was much more serious about the crackin'...

Odin was just a ham for the camera!

After breakfast we played A LOT! Maya taught Odin how to play hide-and-go-seek. Odin loved hiding with Maya (he actually loves doing ANYTHING with Maya;-).

Momma and Odin

Yesterday at dinner Odin was being very lovey to Momma! He helped her eat soup...enjoying a bit of his soup plus her soup. He poised for the camera...

stole her glasses!

And then took the camera...the pictures he took aren't posted here!